Synthesia Talk

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Well, there are a few textures already in there that are flatter (but still have rounded corners). Or you could go the no-texture route and just use <ui type="spacer"> elements to make colored rectangles (though that would take a bit more effort). Still, yeah, that support should be in there now.

Hi there, First of all I want to thank you for this awesome piece of soft. I would like to have access to text labels displayed in the keys and notes, since I don't like notation you have used for common "Do, Re, Mi". I'm more used to "Sol" instead of "So", "Si" instead of "Ti", "Fa#" instead of "Fi", "Sol#" instead of "Si",... and so on. It would be really nice if you can just edit this labels in an xml file. Thanks in advance for your work. Best regardsJL

You can easily change it with the Synthesia Configuration.Go to 'Advanced' then under 'Setting' go to 'Midi.FixedDoNames'.If you really want XML I believe when you change it, it will save to the 'settings.xml' file.

Raymond wrote:You can easily change it with the Synthesia Configuration.Go to 'Advanced' then under 'Setting' go to 'Midi.FixedDoNames'.If you really want XML I believe when you change it, it will save to the 'settings.xml' file.

Thanks for your answer Raymond. Sorry but I'm unable to see settings you mentioned (please see attached image) Could you please be more specific or maybe tell me if I'm missing something? Best regards.JL

Actually, what I really wanted to do is change the keyboard on the iPad version, to create an experimental custom keyboard layout.I suspect you aren't releasing mods for the iPod though.But could we do that with an Android tablet?DrTechDaddy

The xml files won't normally appear in your Mac library folder, so that's not unusual. (95% of the time, they're embedded right in the app.)

The blank screen when clicking the files is because the XML files don't tell the browser to render anything. If you right-click and save the files instead, they should be non-empty.

The bad news: the keyboard is the component with the least modding available. For now there is very little that can be changed there.

Synthesia for iPad can be modded just like the desktop version. You'll just need an app like iFunBox to copy the xml files back and forth between Synthesia's data directory. (Same goes for the current Android beta, but those devices allow near-direct file-system access so you don't need anything like iFunBox.)

I was able to download the .xml files, but I'm afraid I would need some more orientation to make use of them.

Let me make a philosophical point. Why would someone want to use Synthesia?Suppose the answer is "to learn to play the piano".We could be more specific: "to learn to play the piano from traditional sheet music",but then original Synthesia is not really that, but what we call an "alternative notation".OK, so you already acknowledge that traditional piano notation is an impediment to learning to play the piano.But some believe that the traditional keyboard layout itself is another impediment.Now there's not much you can do to change the piano keyboard on a physical piano.

But what if your goal was not just "learn to play piano" but "learn to play music"?Then wouldn't "fixing" the instrument be just as important as "fixing" the notation?Now on a device like the iPad or Android tablet, Synthesia is not just a tutor, it is also an INSTRUMENT! Now the keyboard itself is "soft" and can be changed to anything you want. So what I'm suggesting is that Synthesia could be a core platform for experimenters who want to tinker with keyboard designs! (Many apps are on the market with alternative keyboard arrangements, but they aren't a complete music teaching system like Synthesia.)

Synthesia as-is could also be a core platform for experimenters who want to tinker with musical instruction curriculum, by providing "lessons" along with graded music selections in MIDI format.

I've suggested elsewhere that Synthesia could go beyond even "play from notation" instruction into "play by ear" instruction with some conceptually simple variations on the "playback" mode--basically a "call and response" mode in which a short section of a tune or chord progression was played twice: once for listening (with falling notes "invisible") and then again for the student to attempt to play (also with falling notes invisible).

The educational drill value of both this hypothetical "play by ear" mode and the current "play from notation" mode could be enhanced by a means of presenting short snippets of tunes in random succession. I believe there is a format of MIDI file in which a large number of short sequences can be combined into one file. In any case, the additional Synthesis function would be to create a "play list" capability, with tunes or phrases playable either sequentially or randomly like iTunes.

Again, music teachers could experiment with the instruction sequence if they had the basic tool to present the exercises to the student. My hunch is that playing short sequences in random order would result in much accelerated learning, whether from seeing or hearing the notes, than the conventional "play the same song over and over" approach.

Also, I'd speculate that chopping songs up into short phrases could be a way around the copyright restrictions against copying whole pieces, so lessons could be built from "real" music instead of just mathematically random but often unmusical sequences of note or chords.

One last thought, though it probably has nothing to do with mod:Given Synthesia on Tablet as an Instrument, consider synching several Synthesia tablets to the same "conductor", and creating a Synthesia "orchestra" for group instruction and performance! Students could learn the concepts of harmony and orchestration by playing "one finger melodies," with software selected range and timbre, in concert with other students (or other parts playing in background).

The xml file have indication on it.But you 'll not change the keyboard layout.By the way i am agree with your post, the only problem is custom layout seems to be a big work for Nicholas and he has so many feature to had before this.